Dec, 12—When we were very young, and played "counting-out" games, we used a ridicule Jous rhyme which began which, "Bena, moond, -+-and Anished up with, "twiddlewmftwaddleum twenty-one." There ' were many variations of it and 1 could never make it into! sense until I came across an article in a recent country magazine, Now I am convinced that this was a childish travesty of the old "Shep-Hhera's count" and, that it was only the perverse lity of the shymster which made it finish up [with twenty-one instead of twenty... because all the old English counting was done in twen~ ties oF "scores." The main point to be remembered about such counting is that our shepherds. }were entirely illiterate until recent years: they knew their ten fingers, but they knew nothing of figuring of writing in the modern sense: hence, they created a "count" of their own, and although this differs slightly in all the sheep~ rearing districts, it ts sufficiently alike to be recognized by all shepherds. Tt is fnger-counting of the purest kind, and can be described as follows: (1) is always Un, jan, aen, yin, ama, Jeena, oF the like: (8) is a short word such as pimp or mimp: (10) is diz, dik or dig: coming back to the recount of the first hand, (15) is Jusually boon or bumfit; and the count ends with a word akin to glory oF gigot....which Is, lof course the fore-quarter of a sheep and there-ore means (20.), To take a typical, count from "Aina, peine, ara, pedder, pimp (8) ithy, mithy, opera, opera, dig (10): (now we start again on the first hand); ain-a-dig, bein-a-dig....ete. until we come to (15) Bi now we come to the second count of the second hand, which goes, fama-bumMt, peine-bumft, ete, until It finishes lup triumphantly with Giogy (20). An ititerate shepherd could thus count twenty scores—or *lotnes and th 400: but if you want to know what he did above that number you must em is beyond me.
Horey was Yeaving on 9 business trip, and had decided to take three umbrellas with him:
"why three. umbrellas?" auked. his Wwite, "Well" he replied, eae to gave inthe train, and the third in cans Mother Knows Best "I can't see: with my gassmask on," young, man complained to his mother "Well soon put. that right," st answered loriskly. She went away and returne lantly with the mask. She had cut two slite for his eyes!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.